


Tanabata

by ArchangelUnmei



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: F/M, Gen, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, Tanabata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-02
Updated: 2010-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-11 10:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/111220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchangelUnmei/pseuds/ArchangelUnmei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just this once, Chihiro wants to be selfish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tanabata

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was "two bites of the same cherry", which means to be selfish or wanting more than your share.

Part of her was still living in last summer.

Last summer, when her world had completely and totally changed.

Last summer, when her parents had turned into pigs, and she'd had her name stolen, and she'd both made and lost some of the best friends she could ever ask for.

Last summer, when she'd fallen in love with a dragon.

As soon as they'd gotten settled into the new house, she'd spent weeks in the local library, scouring old musty books for any scrap of folklore she could find. She read about river spirits and kami of greed and mountain hags and dragons. Mostly dragons.

And while she clung to their promise to meet again, deep in her heart she wondered if they ever would. She couldn't help but think a lot about the legend of the Tanabata festival, about the two stars in the sky forever separated by the Milky Way. The legend said that one star was the princess of heaven, who wove beautiful clothes for her father the king. The other star was her lover. The king had separated them because when they spent too much time together, the princess neglected her weaving. So the king only allowed them to be together for one night a year, at Tanabata.

Last summer she'd spent Tanabata in the spirit world.

She missed them all. Kamaji and Lin and Zeniba-obaasan, and even Boh and Yubbaba-obaasan.

But she missed Haku worst of all.

Being in the spirit world and forced to work had taught her not to be selfish, and not to take anything for granted. It had forced her to appreciate what she had, instead of concentrating on things that went wrong. She knew she already had everything she needed, a warm house and good grades and a family who loved her. She didn't deserve to get anything more.

But ever since she came back, she wanted more than anything to be selfish again, just a little. Just enough that she'd be able to see Haku again. That's all she wanted.

The Tanabata Festival was coming closer, taunting her. It had been a whole year already. A whole year, and no word, no sign of anything from the spirit world, unless you counted the tanuki she thought she'd seen late last fall.

She wanted to stay home, but one of her friends from her new school convinced her that she couldn't miss the festival. So she'd half-heartedly put on her yukata, and tied up her hair with a band that sparkled a little differently from the rest, and gone to the festival. She wouldn't stay very long, just long enough to make her friends and her parents happy that at least she was getting out of the house.

As she'd half expected, the noise and the crowds from the festival made her feel isolated and oppressed, rather than excited like they usually did. She found herself escaping to the edges of the festival, drifting past the bright colored tents and hanging lanturns without really seeing.

She bought a bag of kompeito, then immediately wondered why as she stared down at the brightly colored star candies and tried not to cry. _Everything_ was making her think about last summer.

Turning blindly, she nearly ran into a man's broad chest. She dropped the bag of kompeito, wincing as it scattered around their feet. She ducked her head as he reached out to steady her, murmuring a whispered apology.

Abruptly, she realized that the grass around their feet was rustling with tiny shadows snatching at the kompeito, and that the bottom of the man's white yukata was patterned with teal colored clouds.

"On Tanabata, lovers may reunite if they both work hard all year," Haku murmured, and then pulled her close.

Chihiro curled her fingers in his yukata, listened to his heartbeat, and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> The Tanabata Festival is indeed based around the legend I outlined above. The two stars in question are Altair and Vega, two very very bright summer stars. A much better summary of the legend and the festival can be found [here.](http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/orihime.htm)
> 
> Kompeito are the star-shaped candies that get fed to the soot spirits in the movie. They're pretty much just pure sugar with a hard outer shell, but they're actually really good. ^-^
> 
> Oh, and tanuki are Japanese raccoon-dogs. They're supposed to be friendly, if shy.


End file.
